


Fool is in Love

by ArissaBlack



Series: Corporate Lovers AU [2]
Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Corporation AU, F/M, Jukebox, Living!Phantoms AU, M/M, Mutual Pining, Workplace AU, juke, willex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-15
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-13 10:27:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28776801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArissaBlack/pseuds/ArissaBlack
Summary: Luke has a work-crush and her name is Julie. But the problem with work-crushes is that they are just too complicated, right?(Luke POV to Julie’s “Corporate Fools in Love”)
Relationships: Alex Mercer/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Julie Molina/Luke Patterson
Series: Corporate Lovers AU [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2060964
Comments: 19
Kudos: 81





	1. Catch up, got no time to catch my breath

“Hey, am I late?”

His friend Reggie ginned at him from the other side of the reception desk. People were coming and going from the lobby, passing the gates with steady pace, let through by distinctive pings of the badge reader.

“No, just in time, look.”

Luke grabbed a random paper from Reg, pretending he was studying it closely but his eyes focused on the pair who just walked in through the entrance door.

The guy, Willie, was of course wearing a suit but his long hair tied on his neck in a bun distinguished him from the crowd. He was carrying a coffee holder with two cups in it, a bit too carelessly for Luke’s taste. He must have said something funny because the woman beside him burst into laughter.

She was in fact the reason that Luke was standing there like a fool. Her name was Julie, she was working as a support for Covington and from what he heard, she was brilliant at her job. She was also very pretty and, unlike him, she was actually based in this office.

They both waved at Alex and Reggie (Luke was a bit hurt Julie did not spare him a glance). They approached the gates, and Willie tried to go through first because apparently chivalry was dead. He bounced, badge reader not letting him in. Julie tried her card and the reader’s light went green so she could have gone in but opted to wait for her friend.

Alex, whose spot was closest to the gates, stood up from his seat, waiting for both of them to come over.

“Hey, man, will you let me in?” asked Willie, biting his lip while handing Alex his badge.

Luke smirked behind his paper. He could clearly see the flirtation and hoped his friend was not completely oblivious to it.

“Sure, just put your name in the book.” Alex’s voice stayed fully professional but his eyes lingered on Will’s lips a second too long before he pushed the visitors book his way.

So not completely clueless, thank God.

Luke noticed that Julie observed the whole interaction as closely as he did.

“I really need to get a new card, this happens at least once a week,” murmured Will, signing in. “I think I’ve scratched it or something.”

It explained why he was trying to go through the gates first instead of letting the lady in – he simply expected trouble.

“I can order it for you if you send me your pic,” answered Alex with a gentle smile.

“I’ll owe you one. Your full name is Alexander Mercer, right?”

“Yes, exactly.” Alex took the visitor’s book away and gave him a temp card. “Remember to return this one at the end of the day.”

“Yes, sir! Thanks!”

Luke let himself watch them walking away before he turned to Alex.

“Did you do that?” he asked, genuinely curious.

Luke was visiting this office several times a month, usually coming early enough to catch a glimpse of Julie in the morning but he had never seen her this up close because her entrance typically went seamless. He felt blessed to upgrade his opinion on her from very pretty to wicked beauty.

Alex got a bit pinker on the cheeks than an innocent person would. “Maybe.”

“I can screw up her card if you want,” offered Reggie.

“Reg, I’m not even here to have this kind of interaction,” he answered. “So no, don’t make her morning worse than it needs to be, thank you very much.”

“You can try to get relocated, your boss is here after all,” interjected Alex.

“Guys, I won’t sacrifice my freedom of not having Harrison’s eyes on me all the time for a work-crush.”

“I would.” Reggie just shrugged. “If you get on the fifth floor, you will see her every day.”

It did sound tempting. He was sure that on some days the only thing keeping him sane was a thought that she was there somewhere, dealing with similar kind of bullshit. He even went as far as picturing her by his side during tougher meetings because he knew he would never lose his temper around her. So having her truly there would probably work wonders for his professional reputation. All he had to do was check if there was any desk space left and request a transfer. It was really that simple.

_Oh no._

A few weeks later he came by again and since he was already in the same office, Ms Harrison brought him to a meeting room for their weekly one to one. Usually those meetings were planned for half an hour on a conference call and lasted less than eight minutes on average. Face to face tended to last the scheduled time, among other reasons to dislike them. Luckily, Ms Harrison was one of those who liked to hear her own voice so she did most of the talking.

Luke did not exactly zone out because he noted all the actions but his brain wasn’t registering any of it.

“I know your place is closer to the HQ but I had a talk with my boss regarding your current book of work and it would be beneficial if you were based here. What do you think?”

He really didn’t have to be asked twice because at this point he managed to convince himself that his job would be easier, he would see Alex and Reggie more often (which was always fun) and of course he would be able to bump into Julie from time to time. Perhaps even talk to her like a normal person and ask her out – especially since she was on speaking terms with the reception guys. But he checked with the chief of staff in the building and he knew all desks were assigned to one of the directors and there were literally no spots up for grabs.

“I was actually thinking the same thing,” he answered honestly. “But I checked with Seth and the desk space is very limited.”

“Well, I have to admit I went a bit ahead of myself and I already spoke to Covington. If you don’t mind sitting in the same area as his supports, then seat is not a problem.” Her polite smile got replaced with a serious face. “Although those girls are very nice, I’ve heard they are quite chatty so make sure to establish boundaries from the start.”

Luke had to use all his willpower not to laugh out loud. Boundaries? Julie could come in here right now and chat him to death, and honestly he would be thankful!

“I think I can handle that,” was all he said.

“Great, then I will arrange everything.”

His infatuation with Julie started almost a year before and he learnt to admit that it got much worse with time. It was actually funny because the first time they crossed paths, he didn’t even see her. He was having a face to face meeting with Ms Harrison and Julie happened to be one meeting room over – alone, working on something and quietly singing along to the music she put on. Both Luke and Harrison heard her through the thin wall but she was so good that neither of them wanted her to stop. So they sat there in a silent agreement, continuing their conversation and pretending sudden selective deafness. All he’s seen of her that day were her shoes and the top of her head when she crossed their glass door with milky panel in the middle, probably getting back to her desk.

And that day was just a prelude to the sports event that happened later that month where he’s seen her for the first time…

“Patterson, you’re with me?” A strict voice brought him back to reality. Fortunately, by now Luke was proficient in multitasking his daily life with thinking about Julie.

“Yes, ma’am. I’ll remember to request the relocation through the official channels and indicate that I’m taking a desk assigned to Covington’s area,” he answered quickly.

“Very well. Then I will see you back here on Monday.”

When Luke survived the first Monday engagement, which was a Covington meeting he got invited to for some reason, he was finally directed to William, Covington’s PA, who was supposed to lead him to his new desk.

“Lucas Patterson, I presume? I’m Willie. ” His voice was all business but from the previous observations Luke knew he was actually quite friendly. Unless he only liked a certain blond receptionist and hated other people. “I also have some papers for you, they said you need to read them through.”

“Yeah, Luke is enough.” He shook his hand and took the papers. It was a black and white presentation print out. “Thanks for helping me out. They gave me a desk number but, honestly, I would be so lost if I needed to look for it myself.”

“No problem at all. The desk is actually here, on this floor. Follow me.”

Luke went after him obediently but the trip wasn’t long at all. Willie took him to the end of the open space and pointed at the corner seat at a twin desk. It wasn’t the best seat Luke’s ever had but it wasn’t the worst either. The only concerning thing was that he would need to squeeze behind someone’s back every time he needed to leave – and it could get annoying quite quickly.

“The other person at this desk is Julie Molina, she’s Covington’s support.” Willie nodded towards the laptop which was left logged in but locked. Her name was visible on the screen.

Luke almost choked on his own saliva.

“J-Julie?”

All the work he planned to do in the office, ever, just went out of the window. When he came up with the relocation plan, he imagined seeing her a few times a day. Going a bit out of his way to talk to her, perhaps in the kitchen. He never thought he would look to his left and just have here there. How could he do any work now?!

“Yes, she’s cool, you will see.”

He really didn’t need to see to know she was cool. But he thanked Willie anyway, and leaving his bag and coat on the chair, he grabbed the presentation and wondered to the kitchen for a glass of water. He had lots of work to do so he needed to calm down. He was better than this.

Julie was his work-crush, not a school-crush, so he decided that he should stop acting like a love sick school boy – and his ridiculously high pulse should take a note. Besides, it was absurd anyway because he only knew basic things about the real her. Instead of freaking out, he should seize the opportunity and try to get to know her better. Truly see if the crush he was harbouring for so long was actually worth the effort.

The kitchen was out of glasses so he poured some water into a coffee mug. He sat at the table near the fridge and forced himself to focus on reading the executive summary of that presentation from Willie. Cold water and boring tables helped him clear his mind. He was a grown man. No wickedly beautiful Latina woman could make him act like a mess, not for long anyway.

When he left the kitchen he noticed that Julie and the other female support came back from a coffee run. She was at the desk, busy with searching for something in the drawer until she noticed her friend’s look – which was clearly about him. He almost laughed when she slowly straightened at the chair and glued her eyes to the screen.

Luke made sure to step into her view before he introduced himself.

“Hello there, I’m Luke,” he said, balancing his water mug on the papers. He put a lot of effort into making his tone casual and friendly – at least he hoped that’s how it sounded. “You’re Julie, right? Willie said I can take the free spot over there.”

Julie looked at his seat, probably wandering what kind of sins he committed to be banished to the corner. Luke wanted to make a joke about it but before he managed to put the words together, her friend, the other Covington support, dropped something loudly on the other side of the room, getting everyone’s attention.

When his eyes got back to Julie, she was already speaking.

“H-Hi, yes, apologies, I’m Julie. Nice to meet you.” What was she apologising for?

Luke decided to move before it got awkward. Passing behind her back, he noticed the Live Aid video paused in the small window on her now unlocked screen.

“You’re into Queen?” he asked, genuinely excited.

Julie seemed confused, so he simply nodded at her laptop.

“Oh. Aren’t we all, though?” she asked nonchalantly instead of answering.

Luke couldn’t help but to smile wider. He hoped it wasn’t too creepy. Every second with this woman proved she was everything he imagined her to be.

“Are you working for Mr Covington?” she questioned when he finally sat down.

He shook his head, simultaneously trying to get his laptop out of the bag. He needed to at least pretend he was doing some work while talking to her. “I’m with Ms Harrison.”

“Welcome to slaving your life away here, then” was the only thing she managed to say before Covington’s door opened and Willie nodded her over.

Watching her leave, Luke deemed their first conversation pretty successful. He was quite annoyed he didn’t see her for the rest of the day.

***

Luke always thought he was many things but being a support in a corporation would probably not make the list. In his mind, the first position would definitely be a musician, despite the fact that no one was able to enjoy his music in years. He still wrote things in his old song book – the same one he used when he was the lead vocalist of Sunset Curve. He still dragged that thing everywhere he went in case inspiration suddenly struck him in the middle of a work day. (It usually did not.)

First time he took it out of his bag in the office building, it was early morning on one of those days he came over for face to face with Harrison. Upon seeing it, Reggie almost swallowed his yoghurt spoon and Alex spilled coffee all over his desk. It wasn’t an overreaction, both of them used to be a part of Sunset Curve – Reg played bass guitar and Alex was the drummer – so they recognized the black notebook immediately. He knew what they were thinking. About the accident. About Bobby and the day of his funeral when they officially disbanded. Luke blacked out half the things he said and done on that day but he knew his friends never expected the song book to survive. After all, many things didn’t – including his favourite six string.

So it was a real shame that the bloody notebook was nowhere to be found!

After initial panic, Luke tried to calmly trace his steps back and recall the last time he had seen it. He did not take it out of his laptop bag at home so the last time he had it in his hands must have been in the office when he took it out to write down a line or two after his first real talk with Julie.

_Oh no._

Luke knew the policy. If there was anything left on the desk unattained after hours, it went to the shredder. And there were also disciplinary repercussions because his notes could have contained customer data. (Even if they didn’t, they could have and it was enough to get punished.) He honestly did not care about the consequences, because Harrison would just roll her eyes and tell him not to do it again, but losing the song book to the shredder…

He walked into the office so early, he saw Reggie changing out of his trainers.

One look at Luke’s face was apparently enough to concern Alex, who must have been at work for at least a quarter, considering he already had his coffee mug full and his laptop connected to the screens.

“Luke, you okay?” he asked (because Alex never missed an emotional cue in his life).

“Yeah, just need to grab something before the first meeting!” Luke would rather die than admit to his bandmates that he let their musical legacy go down in a shredder because he was daydreaming about his crush.

While waiting for the lift he entertained the thought that even though they stopped playing together long time ago, somehow in his mind he never stopped calling them his bandmates. They also worked in the same company for years but he never called them his co-workers. It just didn’t sound right.

When he got to the fifth floor, he almost run through the open space. Even from the distance he could tell there was nothing on the desk surface outside of computer equipment and office supplies but he did not give up. He quickly checked if he tossed it in his drawers but they were both empty and open, with the key still in the lock (yes, he probably should have taken it home last night). There was also nothing on the floor.

_Oh no._

Before he had a chance to lose his mind, the lift dinged and Julie walked in. She smiled at the sight of him and suddenly his anxiety wasn’t that bad. Perhaps she noticed it yesterday and rescued it somehow?

“Hey, have you seen a black notebook? I think I’ve left it here”

She started nodding before he even finished the sentence. “I have it.”

The pressure he’s felt in his chest all morning faded away and he could breathe again. He was so grateful he wanted to kiss her then and there. (He didn’t because he might have been touchy-feely but he was not a weirdo.)

“Clear desk policy, I needed to lock it before leaving,” she explained quickly. “It fell apart on me when I picked it up but it’s safe.”

It sounded a bit like she tried to cover up the fact that she opened it but on the other hand Luke would not be surprised if the song book really tried to disintegrate – there was already only one staple holding it together and since the country songs did not belong there, they were on loose pieces of paper stuck all over. Besides, even if she read it, he did not mind. They played most of this stuff live for people back in the day, so shame and secrecy were long gone. And it was Julie. If she had seen his lyrics, which was basically his soul transferred to the paper, and she could still look him in the eye with that lovely smile, it was fine.

She unlocked her drawer and handed him the notebook. It seemed like the last staple finally detached from the cover but was still holding the rest together. It was a mess but not much worse than usual.

“Thank you, and sorry, I didn’t intend to leave it and get us in trouble.” He put the notebook in his laptop bag and checked his phone for time. “I have to go. Thanks again”.

Luke was so relieved and happy that he would gladly stay and chat with Julie some more. But yet again, he got invited to Covington’s meeting and showing up on time was the only productive thing he was able to do there. He waved her goodbye and left before she really responded.

When he came back from the breakfast meeting with Covington and got pulled directly into another one with Harrison, he was just confused. Something was happening but he couldn’t put his finger on it.

Covington was acting all weird, dragging him to meetings like he was his boss and asking for Luke’s comments on things, which was unheard of for supports. And to top all of that, he even requested to be called Caleb – _Caleb!_ Ms Harrison, on the other hand, spend an hour telling him when and to whom he should delegate most of his work. When he contacted those new people later, they seemed genuinely scared of him – like his opinion on their work’s quality really made much difference.

Reading through some slides done by the newbies, he put on Queen to calm himself down. Not because he thought Queen was particularly calming but it made him think of Julie and that always helped.

Deep into the presentation and the playlist, he got distracted by an exceptionally beautiful exchange between Brian May’s guitar and Freddie Mercury’s piano. It contained so much raw emotion, despite being totally lyric-less, that it gave him goosebumps. His mind immediately wandered into a fantasy land where he still had a band and could have a similar conversation though his guitar, if not with a piano then perhaps a voice?

Not thinking much of it, he copied the performance link and send it to Julie via skype chat. He knew there was no way she would follow his train of thought but he strongly believed she would be able to pick up on and appreciate the genius of that guitar-piano part. He was also curious if she knew “White Queen” at all – many casual fans didn’t.

He stared for a few minutes at the chat window but when she did not react, he closed it with a sigh. Perhaps it was for the best, he really needed to focus if he wanted to leave the office at some decent hour.

He opened another chat window and wrote to Reggie:

“Get Seth to babysit the reception at 12, you’re both eating lunch with me on fifth!”

Reg proved to be a good friend when he responded almost immediately.

“Will do!”

When the noon finally arrived, Luke was relieved. He came back to his desk with intention to ask Julie and potentially her friends to join them for lunch but it seemed like they already left. He put away his laptop just in time to hear the dig of the lift. Reggie and Alex walked out of it and stopped awkwardly in the hall. He could see by their faces that they weren’t very comfortable being on this floor so he moved to grab them.

When they all crossed the door to the kitchen, Luke noticed that Julie and her friends were there. He approached them without hesitation.

“Hi guys, can we sit with you?”

This strategy never failed him during his years in the corporation. If one came up to somebody and started acting like they were really familiar, no employee would ever outright reject it – because everyone met so many people in passing that there was just no way to remember them all.

Of course, he knew this particular trick would not work on the trio ahead but he counted they would be polite anyway. After all, they spoke to Alex and Reggie before.

He wasn’t wrong.

William reacted with a minimal delay. “Sure, grab a chair.”

When they finally sat down, the six of them tightly packed around a small table, Luke decided to take the initiative. There were three pairs between them, more or less platonic depending on who you asked, so they could go out and have fun.

He was about to propose just that when Julie’s phone pinged. They all watched her checking it but she did not seem to mind. As soon as she looked at it, her soft smile got replaced with a frown.

“Shit, I need to go. Covington.”

Covington was really being a pain for everyone today.

Luke observed how she grabbed her lunch, which she barely started, and put it back in the fridge. His face must have shown how disappointed he was about her departure because Reggie kicked him under the table.

“I’m sorry but I think I’m missing something here,” started Julie’s friend, the other Covington support. “You’re not a new-joiner, right?”

Luke chuckled, amused by the thought. “I’m flattered I can still pass for a newbie.”

“No, no, you really can’t, mate!” immediately interrupted Reggie. “She’s just being nice while stating the obvious.”

“He’s been here longer than any of us,” added Alex. “Long enough to recommend us for the job, actually!”

Willie raised his eyebrows. “No way! You guys joined right after me and it was ages ago.”

“I know!”

Will and Alex exchanged a smile. Luke could clearly tell that his bandmate finally relaxed after that.

“So answering your question, I’m not new, just relocated here from the HQ, Name’s Luke, by the way.” He extended his hand above the table.

“Flynn.” She had unexpectedly strong grip.

“So, Flynn, do you think you guys would like to join us tonight? We’re going out for a drink.”

Both Alex and Reggie had enough reason not to question him on making plans for them – which was a pleasant surprise, especially in Reg’s case. Alex even nodded encouragingly, noticing the perfect opportunity to have a drink with Willie.

Flynn looked at Luke like she knew exactly why he wanted the group to go.

“I’ll ask Jules but I’m down. Will?”

“Sure, it will be nice to see everyone out of dress code for once.”

Luke could feel Alex’s anxiety about choosing an outfit coming from miles away but he put on a brave face.

“Great. Give me your number and I will text you the details.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Video/Audio mentioned:  
> *Queen performance at Live Aid 1985  
> *"White Queen" by Queen live (A Night At The Odeon - Hammersmith 1975) - [Click](https://youtu.be/f8usNj4x9NA?t=159) \- guitar-piano exchange 2:39


	2. Daydreaming about Monday

Seeing Willie’s hand casually placed on Alex’s knee made Luke feel emotions which he hasn’t felt in a long time. He shut them down immediately, trying to focus on Flynn instead.

“Julie will be here in a couple of minutes, Covington held her up in the office,” she informed the group.

Of course he did. That man treated both of his supports like shit and Luke wasn’t really sure why. They were doing a great job, polished, always on time, and never got as much as a thank you. In the meantime, on the last meeting Luke corrected one thing from their slides (and he knew it was probably an overlook, not a lack of knowledge) and suddenly got all the gratefulness and praises – he was almost ashamed. The only good thing about it was that the girls weren’t actually there to witness the injustice.

“Guys, when she gets here, we can go to that karaoke place across the HQ,” proposed Alex.

Luke raised his eyebrows at him, exchanging looks with Reggie. The drummer had killer vocals and it seemed like he was set on impressing Willie with everything he got.

“Don’t look at me like that, they have the cheapest shots in the city!”

Flynn chuckled. “It’s for a reason, Alex. You’re paying for them with your shame!”

Reggie wanted to say something, probably about them having absolutely no shame, especially when it came to performing but he closed his mouth mid-sentence and nodded towards the door.

They all turned to see Julie entering the bar. Luke couldn’t help but give her once over before fully focusing on her face. She looked absolutely stunning in her little red dress but the smile she gave them seemed too wide to be honest. Her eyes looked tired.

Flynn must have noticed the same thing because she immediately said:

“Oh no, you have the face.”

Julie nodded. “Covington just called. I need to make a detour to the office. If I finish at some reasonable hour, I will call to see where you guys are at.”

Luke was fully ready to go and kill Caleb. Was one evening too much to ask?! He involuntarily clenched his fists and his face must have shown something because he felt a kick from – he assumed – Reggie under the table. He tried to relax.

That move must have attracted Julie’s attention since he clearly saw her looking at his arm before meeting his eyes. It seemed like that short interaction made her flushed because she quickly looked away. (He decided he needed a drink before unpacking that. After all, it could have been his wishful thinking or a trick of light. No need to get his hopes up too soon.)

“I was just saying that we should go for karaoke,” stated Alex.

Luke could tell that Julie wasn’t too keen on the idea but she gave the drummer a small smile anyway.

“You guys have fun,” she replied faintly. “Make Willie sing before he is too drunk, he will show you some great moves while at it.”

He seriously considered going back to the office with her and helping with whatever she had to do for Covington but eventually decided against it. She was more than capable of doing her job and probably would take offence if he tried to intervene. Besides, if she really just blushed at him, he would be more of a distraction than help anyway. (He really wanted that to be true.)

Julie soon said her goodbyes and left, leaving her best friend as the only girl among them. Flynn didn’t seem to mind.

“Okay, boys, finish up your drinks and start thinking about the songs you’re going to sing!”

Jumping down from the stage, Luke saw Flynn waving them over to one of the standing tables. When he approached her, closely followed by Reggie, he noticed there was a tray full of shots and water glasses in front of her. Willie stood a bit further away on her left with a big grin on his face but he barely spared them a look, focused on Alex who got held up by some girls.

“Care to explain?” was all Flynn said.

They’ve been in the bar less than thirty minutes but Luke could tell that she was a bit of a light weight. She swayed slightly from side to side, completely missing the rhythm of the music that started playing again in the background.

Reggie was downing a second glass of water so Luke quickly took it from his hands and finished.

“Explain what?” he asked, deciding to play both dumb and drunk to stall. Alex was not in the earshot yet and sharing a story of their non-existing band with co-workers was too personal to do without his consent.

“Come on, Luke, really?”

He just crushed “Dream on” by Aerosmith, supported by the boys. Vocals, harmonies, air guitars and even some drumming from Alex who happened to have his sticks on him because of course he did. Luke knew they were well above karaoke-good and he wanted to kick himself in the face for going that hard.

Alex finally joined them, immediately embraced by a rather drunk Willie.

“That was fantastic, dude! How come you have sticks?”

Alex did not hesitate even for a second.

“I’m the drummer in our band.”

_Oh._

They all observed how Willie, still with his arm around Alex’s shoulders, led him to the corner booth to “hear more about it”. Flynn absentmindedly nodded in approval. Reg took a quick picture of them walking away. Luke felt like he was going to be sick.

When the moment passed, the girl snapped at them.

“You’re in a band?!” She turned to Reggie. “Why don’t I know about this? I speak to you every single day, you dork!”

Reg just shrugged. “It never came up.” He handed her a shot as a peace offering. “Drink!”

She did, immediately shivering afterwards from the taste. “Listen, I want pics. Videos. I need proof that it was not my imagination. Julie will freak…!”

Suddenly, Luke was paying attention again. He did not want to question Flynn because she was Julie’s best friend and he did not want to be painfully obvious but he needed to know. Fortunately, Reggie got his back.

“Jules is into rock?”

“Oh, my sweet summer child…” she said instead of answering but did not continue.

Reggie was sneaky enough to hand her another shot which she instantly downed.

“So?” he prompted again.

“Julie loves music… And I’m not saying she just likes to listen. No. That girl backed out of a record deal.”

“What? Why?!” When both Reggie and Flynn sent him judgemental looks, Luke realized he said it out loud.

“Well, that’s personal so unless she tells you, you won’t know, Steven Tyler. I wish she was here… Let me text her again.” Flynn took her phone out and shot a quick message. “It would be like that dance class with Nick all over again…”

“Nick?” asked Luke a bit too fast to be inconspicuous.

“One of the supports on the second floor,” explained Reggie.

“He plays guitar,” added Flynn.

“Okay?”

She bit her lip like she remembered something funny but she was asked not to share it with anyone. Luke could pinpoint the exact moment when all the shots took over any loyalty she had in her.

“Oh, you know, he put his hand on her waist and somehow there was some skin to skin contact.”

Luke really tried to understand but he was still clueless. He turned to Reggie who just shrugged.

Flynn rolled her eyes.

“She’s into musicians and a girl can easily tell you play when you grab her with those calloused fingers of yours, hello?”

Oh? _Oh!_

Luke would never admit how much his heart fluttered at the thought that he had a slight advantage with Julie over the rest of the world’s population just because he learned guitar when he was six. Thank you, Emily Patterson, for buying a Christmas gift which brough profit even over twenty years later.

“So she’s into Nick?” There was Reggie again, asking the real questions.

“Why do you want to know, Reg?”

“I work reception, my only entertainment is flirting with couriers. I will take all the gossip I can get.” He smiled at her. “Besides, I’m asking for a friend,” ha added and even dared to wink.

One part of Luke wanted to strangle him but the other one was pretty sure that by the end of the night Flynn would be too drunk to recall any of this in the morning anyway. So it was basically free intel.

“You can tell your friend,” she started, turning and looking directly at Luke, “that he should shoot his shot.”

***

Next morning was tough but since it was also a Friday, Luke counted on a quiet day and an early log out. He got to the office at his usual hour and stopped to chat with Alex and Reggie at the front desk. Reg looked like crap, his shirt more wrinkled than normal and his water bottle already half empty. Alex, on the other hand, seemed annoyingly fine in a crisp white button up and a suit jacket which must have been brand new cause Luke never saw it before.

“Hey, you got home okay last night?” he asked, trying not to be salty. Alex ditched them around midnight to walk Willie to the tube station.

“Yeah, I was fine,” he answered quickly, getting redder on the cheeks by the second.

Luke made a conscious choice to ignore that. He looked at Reg instead.

“Remember to show me.”

“Yeah, mate, I got you, relax.”

Alex looked from Reggie to Luke and back, clearly hurt he was not in on whatever they were plotting. But of course Reg was too good of a friend to keep him in the dark.

“Luke’s checking out the competition.”

The drummer was still confused and honestly Luke couldn’t blame him.

“Flynn told us Julie has a weak spot for musicians and she used to crush on some guy who plays guitar,” he explained.

“But you play guitar too.”

Reggie chuckled and Luke rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, I know. Ergo: competition.”

Reggie suddenly put his water bottle down. “Heads up!”

All three of them looked at the entrance. Nick passed the door and the gates in a hurry, with a coffee to go in one hand and his phone in the other.

He was a good looking guy, Luke needed to admit that. Probably a bit younger than him, closer to Julie’s age. Blond hair, blue eyes, slim but not lanky. There was not one thing they had physically in common so unless Julie was crushing strictly on that guy’s guitar hands, Luke couldn’t be more far away from her type.

_Fuck._

“Luke…” Of course Alex read his thoughts like a book.

“Yeah, I got to go.”

He passed the gates and saw Nick still in the queue for the lift.

Luke took the stairs.

As soon as he settled at his desk, he got a message from Ms Harrison asking him to come to her office. It was 8 AM. His dreams of a quiet day crushed and burnt as he went to the door.

He knocked and after getting an acknowledgement, he stuck his head inside. “You called, ma’am?”

“Come in and sit down, Luke.”

He did as he was told, noticing with a delay that they were not alone. Ms Lessa, Harrison and Covington’s boss, was sitting on one of the chairs near the white board. Wearing her signature power suit, she looked as intimidating as always. Luke tried to keep his face neutral.

“Is there something I need to prepare?” Being useful was always the way to go, right?

“Luke, I was just talking to Marci and we both agreed that you should work on my stuff a bit more”, stated Lessa. “I want you on the report that Marci and Caleb submit to me every month.”

He focused on concealing his surprise. That monthly file was well above his paygrade and as far as he was aware, Covington and Harrison did it by themselves. Luke knew he probably could pull it off from Harrison’s side but he did not know enough on the stuff happening in Covington’s area.

“Sure, no problem,” he answered because no support would ever start a sentence with negating the boss. “But I will need to grab one of Mr Covington’s girls to help me out.”

Lessa just nodded. “Certainly. Please approach Julie, I will tell Caleb not to bother her on Monday morning.”

He couldn’t help but grin. Working on something with Julie would probably be a sweet torture of trying and failing to be productive but on the other hand they would be spending a couple of hours together, completely uninterrupted. If he was disciplined enough to get all the content from her at the very beginning, they could hang out and chat for the rest of the time without any consequences.

“I will send you last month’s submission so you have a point of reference.” Ms Harrison shot him a smile. “That’s all, you may go.”

Walking back to his desk, he was so engaged in his daydreaming about Monday (and that did not happen often because Mondays were evil by nature!) that he almost bumped into Willie who was leaving Covington’s office.

“Sorry!” he muttered and wanted to quickly walk away but Will had none of it.

“Hey, Patterson, are we good?” he asked.

Luke raised his eyebrows. Of course he knew exactly what Willie had in mind but seeking a confrontation like that was not something he was used to. Both his bandmates would just squirm in anxiety and move on without questioning anything.

“Why wouldn’t we be?”

The PA just shook his head. He was still perfectly friendly but his relaxed attitude and undeniable confidence was getting on Luke’s nerves.

“Listen, I may have been drunk but I still saw you weren’t too happy about me taking Alex home.”

_Taking home, huh?_

“Nah, man, we’re good.”

Luke saw that Willie was not convinced so he shot him a smile and patted his arm before getting back to his laptop. He needed to do the work now so he could be distracted by Julie on Monday. Unpacking his feelings about Willie and Alex could wait till lunch – or perhaps even till after he teased the drummer to death.

Julie did not show up in the office but he wasn’t surprised after the night before. He knew from Flynn that she got home safe but also very late and he couldn’t blame her for wanting to sleep in. Her absence gave him the time to focus on the task ahead.

Making a new template from last month’s submission took him much longer than expected and getting it filled with Harrison’s stuff wasn’t easy at all. So when he finally finished it, half of his work day passed unnoticed.

He looked at his work phone and decided to give Julie a heads up about Monday. He quickly searched for her number in the company directory and typed a message:

“Hey, it’s Luke Patterson. Covington said I need to work with you on the report they are submitting with Ms Harrison next Wed. Do you have time on Mon to go through my draft?”

He decided to say it was Covington’s order so she wasn’t worried about getting her boss’s permission. He also did not want to stress her out with Lessa being involved.

She replied almost immediately.

“Let me block 8-12 in our diaries. We can grab lunch afterwards.”

_They were getting lunch!_


End file.
